Downton. What does Barrow have on Baxter?

[ChineseFireball]

Any ideas? I thought I'd missed something but the wiki doesn't seem to know either... here

[gaggiagirl]

Im guessing she was a woman of ill repute or had a child out of wedlock. Something that was scandalous in the olden days.

Have you got a theory OP?

[ChineseFireball]

I was thinking along those lines too. Although until just now I didn't realise it was an actual unknown as opposed to a me-not-paying-attention mumsnetting during-the-episode unknown.

[gaggiagirl]

Baxter and mosely will get married and it will be lovely and I will cry. Fact!

[Purplehonesty]

Ooh I like a good wedding.

Was it just me tho or did practically nothing happen in the Christmas special? I was most disappointed.

[boogiewoogie]

According to Rob James Collier in an interview, Thomas bought Baxter to Downton without a reference which suggests that she must have been unemployable because of some dark past or misconduct that Thomas knows about. She "owes" him because he had given her the job at Downton and would otherwise be unemployed.

[Bluestocking]

I've never watched Downton before but I sat with my DM and DF and nine-year-old DS and watched the Christmas special and we all loved it! I particularly loved the handbags-at-dawn interactions between Dame Maggie and Dame Shirley.

[fuzzywuzzy]

I really loved the christmas episode precisely because nothing horrible happened, nobody died and the storylines are pretty clearly being set up for the next series.

[ChineseFireball]

they are making us wait until the autumn though

[WeAreDetective]

Boooo! Autumn is too far

[spanky2]

I was relieved . I couldn't watch the end of the last series . Too sad.

[polyhymnia]

I thought it was incredibly boring. That plus Death cones to Pemberley - also boring - made Christmas viewing very disappointing . Just hope Sherlock makes up for it all tonight!

[BananaNotPeelingWell]

I don't know what he's got on her but they've been alluding to it for too long now and the tension about it has gone off the boil. I don't care anymore. It's like not being allowed in on a secret.

Similarly all the whispering about whether Bates went to London or not...that fizzled out too. I'm getting a bit bored of being led along dud storylines on Downton that dont pan out.

[SquirtedPerfumeUpNoseInBoots]

Bates did go to London, there was a ticket in his pocket. Lady Mary threw it on the fire.

[BananaNotPeelingWell]

But I thought that there'd be a more dramatic outcome to it than that given the build up

[Varya]

Was Baxter the maid who had an illigitmate child, which was frowned on in those days? She was removed from Downton and then did she come back?

[depankrispaneven]

I expect she was falsely accused of theft. It'll all come out, Moseley will prove she was innocent, and they'll live happily ever after.

[GideonKipper]

No Varya that was Ethel. Baxter is Cora's lady's maid whom Barrow recommended.

[willowymoon]

One suspects the lady has form.

Be nice if they made a bit of a drama out of this,rather than it
just being another damp squib like the evil-rapist-valet- under-a -
bus-at-the-hand-of-Bates conclusion which as it was off screen deprived the audience of satisfaction